Subject: M$ Monitor: Open Source Software
Audrie Krause (audrie@netaction.org)
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 21:59:32 -0700 (PDT)
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 21:59:32 -0700 (PDT) Message-Id: <2.2.16.19980721220258.58d7e712@pop.igc.org> To: roundtable@cni.org From: Audrie Krause <audrie@netaction.org> Subject: M$ Monitor: Open Source Software
The Micro$oft Monitor
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Published by NetAction Issue No. 33 July 22, 1998
Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.
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In This Issue:
Closing Windows
Open Source Software Takes Off
About the Micro$oft Monitor
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CLOSING WINDOWS
Just what are the alternatives to Windows-based operating systems and
software applications? In this issue of the Micro$oft Monitor, NetAction
Project Director Nathan Newman looks at "open source" software, also known
as "freeware," and explains why it promises to be the best choice for
consumers and software developers seeking to avoid Microsoft's grasp.
NetAction is planning a series of monthly Open Source brown-bag lunch
meetings in Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and the East Bay, to bring
together developers, media representatives who cover the software industry,
and interested members of the public. The meetings will provide a forum for
exploring and discussing open source software applications, introducing new
features, and increasing support for the use of open source code in personal
and business settings.
Readers interested in being notified when the forum schedule is established
may write to: <opensource@netaction.org> to be put on a mailing list which
will be used to announce the forum schedule. For additional information,
see: <http://www.netaction.org/opensrc/>.
For comments and questions about the following article, contact Nathan
Newman at <nathan@netaction.org> or <mailto:nathan@netaction.org>.
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OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE TAKES OFF
By Nathan Newman, NetAction Project Director
Why should you care if Microsoft monopolizes computer operating systems and
Internet products?
If the alternative is just some other company delivering a similar competing
product, most people would not expect their lives to be impacted whether or
not their products had a Microsoft logo.
But what if the alternative to Microsoft was not more of the same, but an
alternative computing universe where software was free? By this, we partly
mean free as in costing nothing for the user, but more importantly, software
which can be freely modified by any consumer or company or organization
serving the consumer. Any user or company would have access to how the
software works and be free to modify and improve it themselves - an
impossibility in a world where Microsoft jealously guards the secrets of its
source code. The whole Internet would then become a collaborative medium
for sharing improvements and involving more people in innovation than could
possibly be involved at any single company.
That is the reality of a whole array of software emerging under the rubric
of "freeware," or "open source software." Such software includes the Linux
operating system installed on an estimated 5 million computers, the Apache
Internet server used by half of all Internet web sites, the Perl programming
language which gives many Web sites their dynamic nature, and the Sendmail
program which routes over 80 percent of all Internet email traffic.
Realizing the vision of open source computing is what motivates many
Microsoft critics, including NetAction, to oppose Microsoft's growing
monopoly control of the computer marketplace.
While such a vision has at times seemed unattainable, recent actions are
bringing that vision closer to reality:
** In recent months, Netscape has announced that it will develop all its
products for the Linux operating system on an equal basis with Windows.
** Corel - maker of WordPerfect word processor - announced it would be
releasing a full suite of office applications for Linux.
** Interprise (formerly Borland) announced that its Interbase database
server would be ported to Linux.
** IBM announced that its next set of Web tools, called WebSphere
Application Server, would fully support the Apache web server. IBM also
announced it would join the Apache Group of collaborative developers and be
contributing code to improve the Apache server.
** Sendmail creator Eric Allman has created a startup business to sell
easy-to-use administrative tools to support the core free Sendmail program.
** Finally, when Netscape began giving its Navigator software away for free,
it also released details of its source code and gave permission for any
company to modify and distribute their own variations. Distributing
Navigator and its Communicator suite of Internet tools as open source
software may be seen as a desperate move by a company being mowed down by
Microsoft, but the fact that Netscape would even attempt the open source
route gives the whole approach new credibility.
The reason these announcements are so important is they address many of the
concerns that have held back the spread of open source software. Ensuring
ease-of-use and the availability of application software makes it more
likely that the demand and reach of software like Linux and apache will
expand rapidly.
The reason so many people are enthusiastic about open source software is
that what these programs have traditionally lacked in software support has
been compensated for by their programming strength and reliability. Anyone
who has had to deal with Windows 95 crashes and other bugs appreciates
Linux's robust strength and its broad dependability. If you marveled at the
special effects of the movie Titanic, you were watching the results of the
Linux operating system networking over 500 CPUs and five terra bytes of hard
drive space. With price being no object, the Titanic technical team decided
that the freeware Linux installation was the best system: Windows was not
technically up to the job and competing commercial UNIX systems did not have
Linux's flexibility.
These advantages explain why Linux is the only operating system besides
Windows that is expanding its market share. In fact, it is estimated that
roughly as many new computer systems installed Linux last year as installed
MacOS. With Linux increasingly winning the hearts of cutting-edge
business-level computing, the next step is the home and office desktop
market. The decisions by Netscape and Corel to expand the range of
applications for Linux promise to speed that expansion.
On the Web, the free Apache web server has increasingly been recognized for
its technical superiority over the products of commercial rivals Microsoft
and Netscape. Created by a geographically dispersed group of hacker
volunteers, Apache's share of the server market continues to expand above
the 50% mark. It is now being used by companies like McDonalds, UUNET
Technologies, HotWired, the FBI and IBM corporation (which passed over its
own Lotus Domino server in favor of Apache when it put its "Big Blue-Gary
Kasparov" chess match on the Internet).
The reason these open source programs outpace their commercial rivals is
simple: the worldwide community of the Internet that these collaborative
projects draw on is infinitely richer in talent than any single company like
Microsoft. Knowing that everyone, not just a narrow set of stockholders,
benefits from improving open source software, large networks of programmers
and hackers will generously contribute time and talent to programs like
Linux and Apache. And with the whole Internet community testing computer
code they can examine in detail, these open source programs end up with
fewer bugs than Microsoft products whose code is only examined by in-house
programmers.
Similarly, while many users fear that software not backed by a single
company will not have adequate customer support compared to commercial
alternatives, the exact opposite is true. Technical support for open
source software is so extensive on the Web and in UseNet discussion
groups that INFOWORLD awarded its 1997 "Best Technical Support Award for
1997" to the Linux user community for support available for those
needing questions answered or help in using Linux. Most Linux users
thought online support for Linux was infinitely more specific (and less
costly) than that available from Microsoft or other commercial
alternatives.
However, the fears of those still reluctant to try this form of customer
support may be eased by the announcements by IBM, Netscape, and Corel to
expand their commercial support for Linux and Apache. The psychological
lift from these recent announcements may be as important as their
substantive contributes, as many consumers and businesses discover the
dependability and support that already exists for open source software.
This in turn will expand the ranks of companies like Caldera and Red Hat
that are dedicated to selling easy-to-install versions and providing
customized support for open source software.
All of these advancements are dependent on Microsoft not being allowed to
unfairly use its dominance of the personal computer market and browser
market to undermine its open source software rivals.
In an ideal world, Microsoft would be putting its talent to producing
nice-looking interfaces for a core of open source software in competition
with a range of other companies - all of whom would have equal access to the
core computer code.
With the recent announcements by Netscape, IBM and Corel supporting open
source software, and with the antitrust interventions by the Justice
Department and State Attorneys General, we may be inching towards that future.
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About The Micro$oft Monitor
The Micro$oft Monitor is a free electronic newsletter, published as part of
the Consumer Choice Campaign <http://www.netaction.org/msoft/ccc.html>.
NetAction is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to educating the
public, policy makers, and the media about technology-based social and
political issues, and to teaching activists how to use the Internet for
organizing, outreach, and advocacy.
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For more information about contributing to NetAction, or sponsoring the
Micro$oft Monitor, contact Audrie Krause by phone: (415) 775-8674, by
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Copyright 1998 by NetAction/The Tides Center. All rights reserved.
Material may be reposted or reproduced for non-commercial use provided
NetAction is cited as the source. NetAction is a project of The Tides
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